‘Harvesters can’t be permitted to harvest whenever they want’

FFAW-Uniform President Keith Sullivan was correct in a letter published in the Weekend Telegram — the latest news on the health of northern cod isn’t cause to “panic.”

Indeed, it’s reason for inshore harvesters to riot in the streets, or, at the very least, burn the few union cards still in existence, and to demand an independent investigation of the management practices of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The management plans for the northern cod fishery in each of the last two years are the work — NOT of the DFO/Ottawa, which is constitutionally responsibly for fisheries management — but of the FFAW-Unifor and the Barry Group.

The story is clearly laid out in information obtained through the federal Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Act, and proves that DFO has all but given up on management/science of northern cod.

It also answers the question of who’s the manager, and who’s the union?

The FFAW/Unifor is both.

•••

The union executive (secretary-treasurer Dave Decker) and Bill Barry were behind the creation of the NL Groundfish Industry Development Council (NL-GIDC) in November, 2015, with an agreement in principle signed in March 2016.

The very next month, on April 8th, the NL-GIDC was officially announced at a press conference at the Ramada Hotel in St. John’s.

On May 5th, Jim Baird, a 35-year veteran of DFO (mis) management, including a stint as regional director-general, was appointed chair.

Four days after that — on May 9th, 2016 — a meeting took place between Baird, FFAW-Unifor executive, representatives of 5 processing companies, and senior DFO bureaucrats in NL at the department’s White Hills headquarters in St. John’s.

DFO’s Jacqueline Perry wrote a summary of the meeting, including the following points on the management approach for northern cod:

• “NL-GIDC should have a lead role on the development of the commercial harvesting strategy.”

• “NL-GIDC will develop and deliver a plan for stewardship once we know what the minister’s decision is on harvest levels.”